1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connection inspecting apparatus for a cord, such as a high tension cord and to a method for inspecting a connection of such a cord.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A high tension cord that is used in an internal combustion engine of an automotive vehicle generally is a highly flexible cable product used to electrically connect a distributor and a sparking plug of an ignition system. The high tension cord includes a high-voltage resistive cable comprised of a wire having terminals at the respective connecting portions and an insulating coating for coating the wire. A distributor connecting cap is fixed to one end of the high-voltage resistive cable for connection with the distributor, and a plug connecting pipe is fixed to the other end of the high-voltage resistive cable for connection with one of the sparking plug. Corresponding terminals are exposed from the distributor connecting cap and the plug connecting pipe by specified lengths to form a distribution connecting portion at the distributor connecting cap side and a sparking plug connecting portion at the plug connecting pipe side.
The high tension cord has a high voltage applied thereto while being used, and is required to have high precision and durability. Accordingly, in the production process of the high tension cord, various factors such as a projecting length of a sparking plug terminal provided in the plug connecting pipe, a conductive state, and a resistance value are strictly inspected (hereinafter, these inspections are referred to as "connection inspections", and may comprise a conductive state inspection and a resistance value inspection).
An inspecting apparatus for semiautomatically inspecting the high tension cord has conventionally been used to conduct the connection inspections for the high tension cord. This prior art inspection apparatus is provided with an inspecting device for simultaneously conducting the connection inspections between a pair of contact elements which are so provided as to correspond to the respective connecting portions of the high tension cord and a positioning member for positioning the high tension cord in a position where the connection inspections can be performed by the inspecting device. After uninspected high tension cords are positioned by the positioning member and the connection inspections are conducted for them by the prior art inspecting device, they are unloaded from the positioning member and sorted into satisfactory products and defective products.
The prior art high tension cord has a high flexibility as described above. As a result, the plug connecting portion can be positioned relatively easily by the presence of the plug connecting pipe. However, it is difficult to position the distributor connecting portion because it is difficult to orient this portion. Thus, an operator specially stationed for the inspection apparatus conventionally has conducted the connection inspections by manually connecting the distributor end terminal of the high tension cord with the contact elements made of a copper plate.
As described above, it is difficult to position the distributor connecting portion in the conventional inspecting apparatus during the connection inspections for the high tension cord and, therefore, the operator is burdened considerably during the connection inspections and labor costs tend to be high.
In view of the above problem, an object of the present invention is to provide an inspecting apparatus and a method for performing connection inspections for a cord, in particular a high tension cord which makes the connection inspections for the cord easier and enables automation and labor-saving.